South Jersey Baseball Tournament Recap
The Tri-County Conference stood tallest during the South Jersey baseball tournament. Teams from the Trico earned four of the six South Jersey championships.
The four were Woodstown in Group 1, Delsea (Group 3), Kingsway (Group 4) and Gloucester Catholic (Non-Public B). The other South Jersey champions were Haddon Heights (Group 2) and St. Augustine (Non-Public A).
Here is a recap of the sectional championships.
Group 1: The stunner of this tournament was Maple Shade earning a 6-4 semifinal win over defending champion and top seeded Schalick. Woodstown, which split two regular season games with Schalick, then won the title with a 2-0 win over Maple Shade in the South Jersey Group 1 championship. Stone Hassler earned the win with 4.1 shutout innings. He allowed just one hit while striking out six. Woodstown allowed a total of four runs in its four playoff wins.
Group 2: One of the best rivalries in South Jersey baseball is Haddonfield against Haddon Heights. These two Colonial Conference Liberty teams split their regular season games, with Heights winning, 9-8 at Haddonfield and then the Bulldogs winning, 9-5 at Haddon Heights. The sectional final wasn’t competitive as second seeded Haddon Heights beat top seeded Haddonfield, 8-1. In the title game catcher Kevin Clark went 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs. Junior Cole Simon earned the win, allowing one run over five innings. The closest calls in the tournament for Haddon Heights, were two, two-run wins, 4-2 in the quarterfinal over Barnegat and 8-6 in the semifinal over Cedar Creek.
Group 3: Delsea is one of those teams that didn’t receive much publicity this season, after losing considerable talent due to graduation. The Crusaders were only the No. 4 seed in SJ Group 3, but they beat No. 7 seeded Mainland, 8-4 in the South Jersey Group 3 final. After opening with an 8-0 win over Ocean City, Delsea was challenged in the middle rounds, defeating Moorestown, 5-4, and Toms River South, 4-1. That was a Toms River South team that was coming off a 4-3 quarterfinal win over No. 1 seeded Clearview. Delsea played a difficult schedule in the Tri-County Conference and it paid dividends in the tournament.
Group 4: Top seeded Kingsway won its first sectional title since 1992 with a 12-2 win in six innings over No. 2 seed Eastern in the championship game. Senior Tyler Rodgers pitched his second complete game of the state tournament for the win. Nate Bott’s second inning home run gave the Dragons a win they would not relinquish. Kingsway outscored its four playoff opponents, 28-5.
Non-Public A: No. 2 seed St. Augustine competed a dominant tournament with a 6-0 win over No. 5 Christian Brothers Academy in the final. Alex Weingartner pitched a complete game 2-hitter and struck out nine. He also went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Weingartner showed why he was named the state’s Gatorade NJ Player of the Year and why he is considered a potential MLB draft choice. The game before he hit a walk-off grand slam in a 7-4 semifinal win over Red Bank Catholic.
Non-Public B: Top seeded Gloucester Catholic, the consensus No. 1 team in South Jersey, earned its fourth straight sectional championship with an 8-1 win over No. 2 seed Bishop Eustace. The Rams scored seven runs in the fifth inning, all with two outs, to earn the win. Righthander Jude Morgan, who had an RBI triple to tie the score at 1-1 in the first inning, earned the win with a complete game 6-hitter. He struck out six and walked one.
Kingsway pitcher Tyler Rodgers
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Author: Marc Narducci
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